

When I changed its name in the early 1990s, I felt it was important to pay tribute to the original name by keeping the initials. “A decade later in 1982 at age 27, I bought the company. “The name meant something to be because when I was a teen, I enjoyed Bag A Sweet chocolate raisins,” Scheiman says. However, Grandma, while shopping with the grandkids, may buy them their favorites, and if she sees a bag of sugar-free licorice, she may buy that for herself.”Īs for the initials in the name, Scheiman, who began his candy career more than 50 years ago with a candy wholesale distributor in Solon, explains that the original name of the company was Bag A Sweet Candy Company. “Our customers don’t necessarily walk in wanting to buy something that’s good for them. Today, Scheiman also sells sugar-free and organic candy. That’s what it’s all about,” says the 66-year-old Scheiman, whose favorite confections are Chunky and Bun Maple candy bars. As they’re sharing these stories, they’re smiling and it’s electric because you can tell that they’ve gone back in time to when they were 6 or 8 years old, all because of the memories associated with a special candy or two. With cash in their pockets, they rode their bicycles - all decked out with baseball cards in the spokes-to the corner store to buy their favorite candies. “They talk about how they collected Coke bottles and turned them in for the deposits. “I hear customers’ favorite stories every day,” says Scheiman, whose office door is rarely shut. Classics such as Reese’s Cups, Snickers and Tootsie Rolls are well represented, too.
#B a sweetie owner Patch
Meanwhile, GenXers and Millennials are transported back in time with such favorites as Airheads bars, Blow Pops (blue raspberry, of course), Gummi Bears and Sour Patch Kids. Visitors delight in retro confections that connect with their childhoods while they introduce their children and grandchildren to such treats.įor Boomers, it’s candy necklaces and buttons, Good & Plenty (remember Choo Choo Charlie?), Necco Wafers and Turkish Taffy (banana was the best!) that evoke the fondest memories. Those last five words are more than a cliché as shoppers roam the aisles with their children and grandchildren. Inside the cavernous warehouse, seven days a week, visitors can peruse the $3 million inventory, which includes 5,500 candy varieties, canisters of Charles Chips potato chips and multiple popcorn flavors and brands, including newly acquired Campbell’s and Humphrey, as well as Sweeties’ own brand made on site.Ī soda/ice cream (homemade, of course) shop and two 18-hole miniature golf courses with lots of giant lollipops complete Sweeties’ menu of offerings for kids of all ages.

No one knows that better than Tom Scheiman, the ebullient owner of the 40,000-square-foot candy store - the nation’s largest - located at 6700 Brookpark Rd., near Ridge Road. Just how far back depends on your age.Įveryone has candy-connected childhood memories. Sweetie Candy, better known as Sweeties, provides visitors. In the end the ice cream was average and expensive for what you get and we didn't even get a chance to go into the candy store.A trip back in time. While we were told that they had been busy that day, there weren't that many people there during our visit. I don't know how long the soda shoppe was going to remain open that night, but the employees were walking around like they were at the end of a 12 hour shift. As we started to eat our ice cream, they came over the PA and said that the candy store was closing in 15 minutes.

Our ice cream finally showed up at 4:45 and my order was not what I requested, but I just accepted it anyway.

I was worried about trying something else since we had already waited a half an hour so I told them to just use vanilla. About a half an hour after placing our order our waiter came over to tell us that they were out of chocolate ice cream and would I want my order made with vanilla or would I want something else. So we thought we would try out the Soda Shoppe first. We arrived at 4:00 PM and we were told that the candy store was open until 8:00PM.
